Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40794236›Full record

ArticleEuropean journal of epidemiology2025

Is educational attainment protective against developing dementia? A twin study of genetic and environmental contributions.

Ellen E Walters, Susan E Luczak, Christopher R Beam, Malin Ericsson, William S Kremen, Robert F Krueger, Kristian E Markon, Matt McGue, Marianne Nygaard, Matthew S Panizzon and 8 more

Abstract readTwin Study
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in European journal of epidemiology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

18 authors.

Ellen E WaltersCenter for Economic and Social Research, University of Southern California, 635 Downey Way, Los Angeles, CA, 90089-3332, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2858-3784
Susan E LuczakDepartment of Psychology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, 90089, USA.
Christopher R BeamDepartment of Psychology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, 90089, USA.
Malin EricssonDepartment of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, 171 77, Stockholm, Sweden.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0647-0148
William S KremenDepartment of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, 92093, USA.
Robert F KruegerDepartment of Psychology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, 55455, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9127-5509
Kristian E MarkonDepartment of Psychology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, 55455, USA.
Matt McGueDepartment of Psychology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, 55455, USA.
Marianne NygaardDepartment of Public Health, The Danish Twin Registry, University of Southern Denmark, Odense M, DK-5230, Denmark.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0703-2665
Matthew S PanizzonDepartment of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, 92093, USA.
Brenda L PlassmanDepartment of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke University, Durham, NC, 27710, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2867-7198
Chandra A ReynoldsInstitute for Behavior Genetics, Department of Psychology & Neuroscience, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, 80309, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6502-7173
Perminder S SachdevCentre for Healthy Brain Ageing (CHeBA), University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9595-3220
Anbu ThalamuthuCentre for Healthy Brain Ageing (CHeBA), University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7114-1260
Keith E WhitfieldProgram for Research on Men's Health, Hopkins Center for Health Disparities Research, Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA.
Nancy L PedersenDepartment of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, 171 77, Stockholm, Sweden.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8057-3543
Margaret GatzCenter for Economic and Social Research, University of Southern California, 635 Downey Way, Los Angeles, CA, 90089-3332, USA. gatz@usc.edu.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1071-9970
IGEMS Consortium

Funding

U19 MIDlife in the United States-Diversity Supplement-WellsU19AG051426 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON · PI CAROL D. RYFF · 2016 to 2026
$74.8M
STATISTICS COREP01AG020166 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON · PI RYFF, CAROL D. · 2002 to 2015
$50.6M
The VETSA Longitudinal Twin Study of Cognition and Aging (VETSA 4)R01AG050595 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO · PI ELMAN, JEREMY A, FRANZ, CAROL ELAINE · 2015 to 2024
$28.0M
Integrative Pathways to Cognitive, Affective, and Brain HealthU01AG077928 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON · PI Sterling C Johnson, MARGIE E LACHMAN · 2022 to 2026
$17.7M
TRAJECTORIES OF MORTALITY IN CAENORHABDITIS ELEGANSP01AG008761 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA TWIN CITIES · PI VAUPEL, JAMES W. · 1990 to 2008
$17.5M
The VETSA Longitudinal MRI Twin Study of Aging (VETSA MRI 4)R01AG076838 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO · PI ANDERS M DALE, Jeremy A Elman · 2022 to 2026
$8.7M
GENETIC EPIDEMIOLOGY OF ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE IN TWINSR01AG008549 · NIA · DUKE UNIVERSITY · PI PLASSMAN, BRENDA L · 1989 to 2003
$4.2M
Clarifying risk and protective factors for dementia with the Interplay of Genes and Environment in Multiple Studies (IGEMS) consortiumR01AG060470 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA · PI GATZ, MARGARET, PEDERSEN, NANCY L · 2018 to 2022
$3.6M
Differences in the association of education with ADRD across countries, historical eras, and men and women.R01AG081248 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA · PI DEBORAH G FINKEL, Brian K. Finch · 2024 to 2026
$3.6M
GENETIC &ENVIRONMENTAL INFLUENCES--BIOBEHAVIORAL AGINGR01AG010175 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA · PI PEDERSEN, NANCY L · 1992 to 2006
$2.8M
Gene-environment Interplay Among Modifiable Factors for AD/ADRD: Risk and Resilience Across the LifespanR01AG089666 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO · PI Jenae M. Neiderhiser, CHANDRA A REYNOLDS · 2024 to 2026
$2.3M
DEMENTIA IN TWINSR01AG008724 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA · PI GATZ, MARGARET · 1990 to 2002
$1.4M
NIA NIH HHS P01 AG008761NIA NIH HHS P01 AG020166NIA NIH HHS R01 AG008549NIA NIH HHS R01 AG008724NIA NIH HHS R01 AG010175NIA NIH HHS R01 AG013662NIA NIH HHS R01 AG050595NIA NIH HHS R01 AG060470NIA NIH HHS R01 AG076838NIA NIH HHS R01 AG081248NIA NIH HHS R01 AG089666NIA NIH HHS R21 AG039572NIA NIH HHS U01 AG077928NIA NIH HHS U19 AG051426
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Low educational attainment is recognized as a modifiable risk factor for dementia. Despite the commonly accepted notion that greater educational attainment confers lower dementia risk, few family-based studies have investigated the causal bases for the association. Using data from seven twin samples from Sweden, Denmark, Australia, and the US participating in the IGEMS (Interplay of Genes and Environment in Multiple Studies) consortium (N = 60,027, 10.92% with dementia), we tested whether twins who achieve higher education than their co-twins have lower risk of dementia. The primary analysis applied a multilevel between-within regression framework, supported by descriptive statistics of within-pair differences. Results confirmed an overall association between educational attainment and dementia risk, such that individuals with higher educational attainment had less likelihood of developing dementia (phenotypic regression coefficient = -0.68, p <.0001). Within twin pairs, however, twins who achieved greater education than their co-twins did not uniformly show lower dementia risk (within-family regression coefficient = -0.07, p =.0983, while between-family regression coefficient = -0.98, p <.0001). Taken together, the pattern of results shows that the effect of educational attainment on dementia risk is largely attributable to genetic influences in common to educational attainment and dementia, although there are also contributions from environmental influences shared between members of the same family. Results were similar in men and women. These findings add to the literature by using a co-twin control design to address possible reasons that low educational attainment is associated with greater dementia risk.

Indexed as

DementiaEducational StatusGene-Environment InteractionAgedAged, 80 and overAustraliaDenmarkFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedRisk FactorsSwedenTwins, DizygoticTwins, MonozygoticUnited StatesDementiaEducationGenetic correlationTwin studies

Identifiers

PMID40794236
PMCPMC12504008

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